Legislature Aims For Earliest Budget In 30 Years

Lawmakers plan to pass the budget by March 21, a full 10 days before the start of the fiscal year, legislative leaders from the Senate and Assembly announced today.

“This schedule sets out a plan to adopt a new budget on March 21st, the earliest budget since 1983, and 10 days prior to the April 1st deadline,” Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos said in a statement. “Public budget hearings are well underway, the review of the proposed Executive Budget has begun, and the Senate Majority Coalition is ready to work together with the Assembly and Governor to enact a fiscally responsible state budget.”

While that sounds like an ambitious goal, the Legislature is under the reality of a time constraint because of several Jewish holidays, including Passover, falling in the final week of March.

Still, the last time New York passed a budget that early was 1983, when the current governor’s father, Mario Cuomo, occupied the second floor.

The Legislature is scheduled to go to four-day-a-week sessions starting March 4, and then take a week off starting March 25, the first day of Passover.

Skelos, along with IDC Leader Jeff Klein and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver this afternoon in a joint announcement the schedule for passing budget bills, along with the so-called mothership committee meetings of the Assembly and Senate leaders.

As announced, the schedule calls for the Senate and Assembly to release economic and revenue reports by Feb. 27. The revenue consensus report is exepcted by March 1.

The first joint Senate-Assembly budget conference committees will begin March 11 and final report will be issued March 14.

Budget bills be taken up by both houses between March 18 and 21.

“This joint schedule demonstrates the legislature’s commitment to delivering another responsible and on-time state budget. New Yorkers deserve nothing less. Working with Governor Cuomo, our two houses are on track to complete a comprehensive budget plan ahead of schedule,” Klein said in a statement.

Albany traditionally has been known over the years for passing late budgets year after year. The last late budget was in 2010, when lawmakers finally approved the final spending measures in August, one of the latest finishes ever.

That was also the first year that Paterson successfully was able to pass his preferred plan through the Legislature via emergency extender appropriations. It was a move that greatly enhanced the governor’s budgetary power.

Since Gov. Andrew Cuomo, budgets have been on time. Cuomo has said in the past he would go the extender route should lawmakers fail to pass his spending plan on time, which could set up a showndown over shutting down state government.

Cuomo has proposed a $142.6 billion plan that closes a $1.3 billion deficit.